Wild Kratts, Season 3, Episode 9: Underwater Unicorns
by ShorinRyuKarateKobudo
Summary: The Wild Kratts are off to study narwhals. They follow a pod to learning their ways, unlocking their mysteries and discovering how they cope with the ice. Unfortunately, ice started to melt from Global Warming and land creatures get trapped on ice floats as they drift into the open sea. It's up to the Wild Kratts to save the creatures.


Location: Baffin Island

Featured Animals: Narwhal, Beluga, Bearded seal, Walrus, Green halibut, Northern shrimp, Armhook squid, Arctic cod, Orca, Polar bear, Barren-ground caribou, Arctic fox, Arctic hare, and Baffin Island wolf

Mentioned animals: Red snapper

Villain of the Week: None

Animal name(s): Jouster, Swashbuckler, Blobby, Pobie

The Wild Kratts are situated at a shores on Baffin Island.

"We're here, just in time for the arrival of another cool creature," said Martin.

"Hmm?" said Koki, "What one Earth are we looking for, now?"

"It's a whale unlike any other," said Chris dressing up in his swimsuit.

"Oh I'm so excited!" said Martin, "I mean, I've never been more excited ever since we started working with Area 51."

"But what is it?" Aviva asked.

"It's a narwhal," said Chris looking out of the window, "and they'll be heading this way!"

"And we're gonna find them before they're gone," said Martin who runs out of the Tortuga with Chris.

"But the water is still frigid cold outside," said Brandon concerned, "You'll freeze!"

"Oh not to worry," said Aviva, "I modified the swimsuits with Area 51's technology to keep the Kratt bros insulated from even icy cold ocean."

"I just hope they don't get carried away," said Koki.

"Uhh, what's a narwhal?" Jimmy asked.

Brandon walks the monitor and opens up video clips of a narwhal, "A narwhal, it's a type of whale you might be familiar with it if I show a picture of one."

"Oh, that whale with a unicorn horn," said Jimmy.

"That unicorn horn, Jimmy, is the narwhal's tusk," said Martin through the monitor showing an animated anatomy of a narwhal's skull through his Creature Pod, "Usually, only males have this tusk, which originally starts off as his left tooth. But as he matures, the left tooth migrates to the front of his head, growing longer as it goes."

"Whoa, creepy," said Jimmy.

"And that tusk can grow really long," said Chris, "Up to 10 feet long! But it's a mystery why they sport such a long tusk, and more importantly why only males have that."

"Oh I know!" said Jimmy, "They use the tusk to fight!"

"That has never been recorded, Jimmy," said Koki, "Though there have been evidence of male narwhals having battle scars and broken tusks, most likely made by another male."

"Oh I've always wanted to know the purpose of the narwhal's tusk," said Aviva, "I just hope you guys can find one to get analysis."

"We're on it!" said the Kratt Brothers who then jump into the frigid water.

"Hey, I don't feel so cold," said Chris surprised about his swimsuit.

"The modifications did work," said Martin, "I don't feel cold at all."

"Well we better get to open water if we are to get a glimpse of a pod of narwhals," said Chris.

Blobby, a baby walrus the Kratt brothers previously met, bumps into Martin on the back of his head.

"Oww," said Martin, "Well hello Blobby. Nice seeing you, again."

Blobby's mom swims by and Blobby follows his mom.

"He's searching for clams, just like his mom," said Martin observing.

"Martin, look," said Chris.

Blobby's mom sifts around the sediment, looking for clams, which scares off the green halibut. A shoal of Arctic cod and armhook squid also swim by, hunting Northern shrimp.

"Whoa!" said Chris, "A shoal of Arctic cod and squid. They're hunting shrimp!"

"And look who's going to hunt them," said Martin pointing at a bearded seal swimming after a squid.

"Whoa! A bearded seal," said Chris, "They can move underwater with ease to catch that squid."

"And check out these halibuts," said Martin, "They're huge!"

The brothers all of the sudden hear clicking noises, saying "Huh?"

A pod of beluga whales arrive, and one of them snatches the halibut.

"Belugas!" said the Kratt Brothers.

"Also called white whales," said Chris.

"Melonheads," said Martin.

"And sea canaries!" said the Kratt Brothers.

"You sure they're not narwhals?" Jimmy asked through Chris's Creature Pod, "They sure don't have dorsal fins like a narwhal."

"And why are they called sea canaries?" Koki asked trough Chris's Creature Pod.

"Exactly, but not quite," said Chris showing holographic pictures of a beluga and narwhal comparison, "You see the key difference between the beluga and narwhal besides the lack of the tusk is their color patterns on their skin. Belugas have a creamy white skin that helps them blend in perfectly under the ice while narwhals have a more mottled pattern, with blackish-brown markings over a white background, which helps with camouflaging on the rocky sea floor."

"And the reason why belugas are called sea canaries is because they're the most vocal cetaceans in the world, possessing a large repertoire of different sounds such as cackles, whistles, trills and squawks as well as grinding their teeth and splashing," said Martin.

The belugas continue to vocalize as they hone in on the school of Arctic cod.

"That's some noisy whale, alright," said Koki.

"Look at how they cooperate to hunt down those cod fish," said Aviva.

"Huh?" said Jimmy, "Fish in polar waters? But wouldn't the fish turn into a block of ice? It's freezing!"

"Hmm?" said Koki, "Those fish are adapted to the frigid waters of the Arctic."

"Here, I'll show you," Brandon brings up on the monitor an anatomic picture of an Arctic cod and a red snapper, "Here we have a red snapper, a fish we always associate with tropical fish and the Arctic cod you are curious about. One key difference between the two is their blood vessel."

"Wow," said Aviva all amazed, "I didn't know their blood vessels are completely different."

"It's like a different highway," said Koki.

Brandon continues, "As you can see in the red snapper, the blood vessels are much closer to the skin surface. The blood vessels are what provide heat for the fish to stay warm, but because the red snapper lives in a warm, tropical environment, it doesn't need to retain as much heat, so the blood vessels simply dissipate the heat at the surface of the snapper's skin. Now in the Arctic cod, their blood vessels are more compacted into its body because they need to retain as much heat as they can, especially when swimming in freezing cold waters. Plus, having the blood vessels packed close together allows the vessels to warm each other up to help keep the fish from freezing."

Aviva adds, "The Arctic cod also has another adaptation to living in the cold: antifreeze proteins in their bloodstream that prevent them from freezing. These "antifreeze proteins" bind to tiny ice crystals in their bodies, inhibiting further growth. Without these proteins, the fish would freeze to death."

"Whoa, now that's a lot to earn from a fish," said Jimmy.

"When are those narwhals going to arrive, brothers?" Koki asked.

"Narwhals prefer deeper waters, not here in the shallows," said Chris, "To find them, we'd have to swim out there in order to find a pod."

"And that's where we're heading," said Martin as he and Chris swim out into the open waters.

"Uh guys, are you sure about that?" Brandon questioned their plans.

"There could be dangers out there that we don't know," said Jimmy all paranoid and freaked out.

The brothers managed to swim far out in the ocean.

"Starting to feel cold, brother?" Martin asked.

"Not at all, Martin," said Chris, "They should be arriving right… about… now!"

A pod of narwhals come swimming towards Chris and Martin.

"Narwhals!" said the Kratt Brothers.

"It's a pod of them," said Chris.

"This one has roughly ten individuals," said Martin, "though they can have pods up to 100 strong."

"This one is also a mixed group," said Chris, "Moms, calves, and a few males, led by that bull."

Chris points at a rare two tusked bull narwhal that swims past the Kratt Brothers.

"Whoa," said Martin amazed, "I don't believe my mind! Only one in 500 males sport two fully grown tusks. It's unbelievable!"

Aviva watches the two tusked narwhal through the monitor.

"Wow, I don't believe this," said Aviva, "It's a male narwhal with two tusks. I didn't think they'd exist."

A baby narwhal bumps into Martin.

"Oww," said Martin, "You, too?"

The baby narwhal keeps ramming Martin.

"Okay, okay, I give," said Martin.

"Uh Martin," said Chris, "I think that baby is using you as his play toy."

Martin gasps, "To practice sparring, just like that bull. I know you don't have a tusk, yet. But I'll call you Jouster!"

"Jouster?" said Chris, "That name would work if he were older so that his tusk would grow out."

"Only time will tell," said Martin.

Another bull narwhal with one tusk approaches the pod and the bull meets to the challenge.

"Martin, look!" said Chris pointing out, "Another bull male is approaching!"

"Oh boy!" said Martin all excited, "This could test Jimmy's theory that narwhals fight with their tusks!"

The bull narwhals begin to fight, swaying their tusks at each other. The dual tusked narwhal gains the upper hand, catching the intruder's tusk and tossing him away, forcing the intruder to retreat.

"Whoa, now that was awesome!" said Martin, "Now I know what to name you, after the way you fight: Swashbuckler!"

"Wahoo!" said Jimmy all excited, "I was right!"

"Hey Kratt brothers, can you analyze Swashbuckler for me, please?" Aviva asked.

"Coming right up," said Chris who pulls out his Creature Pod and scans Swashbuckler.

Analysis data on Swashbuckler appear on the monitor.

"Wow, those tusks are highly innervated sensory organs," said Aviva analyzing the data, "It's literally like a giant tooth."

"More innervated than a human tooth," said Brandon.

"But it's weird," Aviva wondered, "Why is the teeth not sensitive to the cold waters when it lined with so many nerves?"

"How so, Aviva?" Jimmy asked drinking his soda.

"Okay Jimmy, take a gulp of your soda and keep your teeth covered," said Aviva.

Jimmy does so and then swallows, "I didn't feel anything, Aviva."

"That's because your soda is not that cold since it's only chilled," said Aviva, "But when you make even colder…"

Brandon adds ice to Jimmy's soda and Jimmy takes another gulp, making funny faces and swallowed, panting afterwards, "What just happened to my teeth?"

"Your teeth started to feel frozen because the nerves in your teeth reacted to the cold, sending signals to your brain that it hurts," said Aviva, "That why I'm curious on how Swashbuckler is able to keep his huge tusks underwater."

"Wow, I didn't think it would hurt that much," said Jimmy, "I'm gonna go brush my teeth."

"And I'm gonna build a replica of the narwhal's tusk to test out its function," said Aviva who heads to her work station, "Babe, help me out."

Brandon heads to her work station to give her a hand.

Back out in the Arctic Ocean, Swashbuckler and the other males swim up to the surface.

"Martin, let's check out what they're doing," said Chris as he and Martin follow.

Swashbuckler starts rubbing his tusk with the other males.

"Amazing, they're rubbing their tusks," said Martin, "It's a behavior known as "tusking." But why?"

"Probably ways to maintain social dominance hierarchies or maintenance of the tusk as a sensitive sensory organ or something else," said Chris, "Let's have a closer look."

Chris uses his Creature Pod to get a closer look at the narwhal's tusk.

"Amazing!" said Chris, "They're actually cleaning their tusk, rubbing off debris that gets caught in the spiral grooves."

"And Swashbuckler seems to also be asserting his dominance,' said Martin observing, "So I guess that means they tusk for both!"

"Awesome!" said the Kratt Brothers.

"Aviva, are you getting to construct the narwhal creature powers, yet?" Chris asked through his Creature Pod.

"Almost there," said Aviva outside of thee Tortuga near the shores with Brandon, "I need to test the function of the narwhal's tusk. Do it, Ninja!"

Brandon attaches the replica of the narwhal's to his bo staff and dips it into the water. Aviva then reads off her portable computer what the tusk reads.

"Amazing," said Aviva, "I'm picking up all sorts of readings! Temperature, motion, aerometric pressure, salinity levels, and I'm even detecting the presence of fish!"

"So it's true," said Chris, "The narwhal's tusk is used to monitor its environment, possibly to determine when to migrate or where food is most abundant."

"Uhh, guys," said Aviva, "My tusk replica is starting to lose data. Ninja, pull it out?"

Brandon pulls out the tusk replica to see it covered in ocean particles and debris.

"It's all covered in debris from the ocean," said Aviva.

"And that must be the reason why they clean their tusk," said Martin, "They keep their teeth clean to monitor their environment."

"Looks like we'll have to clean it," said Aviva, "I better add all this to your Creature Power suits."

Brandon pulls out his sai to clean the tusk.

Back with the Wild Kratts, Swashbuckler starts to get nervous and Jouster stays close to his mom.

"What's going on here?" Martin wondered.

"I think it's coming from down there," said Chris who takes out his binoculars to see a pod of orcas approaching, "Gasp, a pod of orcas!"

"We have to get out of here!" said Martin.

The pod of narwhals head toward a pack of ice floats.

"Looks like they're heading for cover," said Chris.

"And so are we!" said Martin as he and Chris follow the pod.

Back at the Tortuga…

"I have to hurry up with this Creature Power Disk, or else those orcas will tear them apart," said Aviva.

"Can't those male narwhals fight them off with their tusks?" Jimmy assumed, "I mean, they can be used as weapons."

"That may be, Jimmy," said Brandon, "But a pod of orcas can easily out outmaneuver and overwhelm even Swashbuckler if they try to attempt to directly confront the orcas."

Back out in the ocean, the orcas struggle to get to the narwhals and fall back.

"Whew," said Martin, "Good thing narwhals have no dorsal fins."

"Yeah, there's no way the orca pod can fit through here with their tall dorsal fins," said Chris, "Wait a minute, how long have they been underwater for?"

"I timed it," said Brandon through Martin's Creature Pod, "You guys have been down there for almost 20 minutes."

"Oh no," said Chris all worried, "Narwhals can hold their breaths for a maximum of 25 minutes."

"But there's no way these narwhals can go out there with those orcas on the prowl," said Martin all frantic.

Swashbuckler start making clicking sounds and sways his head.

"Look, Swashbuckler is looking for something," said Chris.

Swashbuckler leads the pod further in the pack ice.

"We should follow them," said Martin.

They reached to a nearby breathing hole.

"Alright, we made it to a breathing hole," said Chris.

The pod of narwhals takes turns to catch their breath at the surface of the breathing hole.

"Hey Chris, do you have a feeling that something is waiting for you to come over there?" Martin asked.

"Well, breathing holes tend to be the most vulnerable place a whale can be at while stuck in the middle of this pack ice," said Chris, "But once each of us can catch our breath, we should be able to swim back out to open water."

"Let's go, Jouster," said Martin.

Chris and Martin take a peek at the breathing hole surface only to be confronted by a polar bear.

"AHHH! POLAR BEAR!" shouted the Kratt Brothers as they barely dodged the polar bear's attack. Jouster stays close to his mom.

"Whew, now that was a close one," said Martin.

"Oh yeah," said Chris, "Polar bears are another main predator of the narwhal. They wait patiently next to a breathing hole and when a narwhal pops up; they jump in and grab it!"

"Oh yeah, and especially if you're a young one, like Jouster here, you can bet that polar bear will go after them, first," said Martin, "Say, that polar bear looks familiar; could that be Pobie's mom?"

I can't tell, Martin," said Chris who follows the pod of narwhals. "We need to keep up with the rest of the pod."

"Right behind you, brother!" said Martin.

Back at Tortuga base…

"I can't let the Kratt Brothers keep swimming around out there while those orcas are at large," said Aviva building some contraption, "Brandon, can you pass me the plasma cutter, please?"

"Right away," said Brandon who hands over the plasma cutter.

"What are you building, Aviva?" Jimmy asked.

"These are sonar buoys," said Aviva, "These buoys give off sonar that will irritate the orcas, forcing them to turn around. We'll have to be ready to deploy these when those orcas return."

The Tortuga starts shaking like an earthquake and the pack ice breaks apart into icebergs, each carrying Pobie the polar bear cub, a barren-ground caribou, an Arctic fox, an Arctic hare, and a Baffin Island wolf, and drifting out into the open waters.

"Huh?" said Koki all confused, "Am I losing my mind or did I just saw a bunch of creatures drifting away on ice?"

"That's no hallucination, Koki," said Brandon, "They really are drifting away on icebergs!"

"Hey look," said Jimmy pointing out of the window, "That polar bear is trying to swim after her cub!"

Pobie's mom tries to save him by swimming after him but tires out and rests on a nearby drifting iceberg.

"Oh no!" said Aviva all frantic, "Even that polar bear mom can't swim fast enough."

"Attention Kratt brothers! We have an emergency!" Koki shouted through the Creature Pods, "We're drifting away to open water and you must save us and the creatures!"

"We're on our way!" shouted the Kratt Brothers who swim out from underneath the ice.

"But wait," said Chris, "We need narwhal powers to save the creatures drifting away!"

"I got you guys covered," said Aviva, "Two narwhal creature power disks and Creature Power suits coming right up! Heads up Jimmy!"

She throws the two narwhal creature power disks along with the Creature Power suits at the Teleporter and Jimmy controls it with his videogame controller.

"Zapping!" said Jimmy who uses his videogame controller to teleport the creature power disks to Chris and Martin, "It's outta here!"

Chris and Martin receive the Creature Power disks with narwhal powers and their Creature Power suits.

"Awesome!" said the Kratt brothers as they put on their Creature Power suits and insert the Creature Power disks into their Creature Power suits. Martin touches Jouster and Chris touches Swashbuckler and then press the button on their Creature Power suits, shouting "Activate Creature Power Suits!" The Kratt Brothers turn into copies of a male narwhal.

"TO THE CREATURE RESCUE! SAVING THE PLANET WITH CREATURE POWERS!" the Kratt Brothers shouted as they swim after the drifting icebergs containing the trapped creatures.

"Hey! That one's Pobie!" Martin shouted as he swims after him, "I'm coming Pobie!"

"And that one has to be his mom!" said Chris who swims after her.

They try to push the iceberg with their single tusk, but the ice bergs keep tilting and move off the tips of their modified tusks.

_Back in the Tortuga…_

"Aviva, aren't the narwhal's tusk too sensitive due to being innervated?" Brandon asks.

"I modified the tusks so that they have more rigidity, that way, Chris and Martin can push the icebergs back to shore with the creatures," said Aviva.

_Back out in the ocean…_

"Martin, I can't move these icebergs," said Chris, "They keep moving away!"

"Help me out at least!" shouted Martin struggling to save Pobie.

Chris swims over to aid Martin and they successfully saved Pobie.

"Guys! There's no way you're gonna be able to push those icebergs with those tusks," said Koki through their Creature pods, "It's just plain physics. You need a wider area to push something that large. In your case, the both of you combined!"

"But at this rate, we'll never save them all in time!" said Chris all worried.

"Unless we have two tusks, like Swashbuckler," said Martin.

"But the odds of a male narwhal having two tusks are against you!" said Aviva through their Creature pods.

"We have to try," said Chris, "It is our only hope of saving these creatures!"

"Let's do it, bro!" said Martin.

The Kratt Brothers keep pressing the reset button to grow out another tusk, which proves to be taking a while.

"Uh-oh! We got incoming!" Koki shouted, "Orcas heading toward the floating creatures!"

"Oh no!" said Chris, "If those orcas get to those creatures, the creatures will become their next meal!"

"Not if we stop them, first," said Aviva who alongside with Brandon fly past the Kratt Brothers still refreshing their Creature Power suits.

They split off and encircle the drifting icebergs with sonar buoys that let out a sound frequency that discouraged the orcas, forcing them away.

"Alright!" said Aviva who gives Brandon a high-five and they then both fly back to the Tortuga.

Right on cue, the Kratt Brothers finally managed to grow out another tusk.

"Alright!" shouted the Kratt Brothers, "To the Creature Rescue!"

They successfully saved the rest of the drifting creatures and they leave their perspective ways.

"Whew, no that was a close one," said Chris who deactivates his Creature Power suit.

"You said it," said Martin who follows.

They get back into the Tortuga.

"Well, we sure learned a lot about narwhals," said Aviva having some hot chocolate.

"Oh yeah," said Chris, "Like why male narwhals have that long tusk."

"And the mysteries behind their tusks," said Martin.

"We also learned how the tusk works," said Aviva.

"Like how they can detect all sorts of things," said Koki.

"Don't forget fighting," said Jimmy.

"Overall, narwhals are such awesome creatures," said Martin.


End file.
